The Mermaid AU Maybe One Person Asked For
by ManaketeSmoocher
Summary: [HIATUS? DISCONTINUED?] In which Hiccup and the rest of the crew are merfolk (except Trader Johann?). As a sheltered prince with an overprotective father and a missing mother, it's no wonder Hiccup winds up sneaking out of the castle so often. It was bad enough discovering he wasn't actually asexual, but now he has to try and break it to his dad that he's fallen for a human man!
1. Introduction

**I apologize for the lack of chapter title but I am not feeling particularly creative in that regard right now so I'll probably just leave this as the "Introduction" and try to title future chapters properly!**

* * *

Generally, being a prince is pretty cool. You can have whatever material object you could possibly want in the world, and throw people out if you aren't particularly fond of them. Your room is probably going to be pretty damn nice as well, and you never really have to do anything past sit through lessons and diplomatic meetings. All in all, one would think being a prince would be, well, pretty cool. Being a mermaid prince? Even cooler!

Unfortunately, if you're a prematurely born mermaid prince who's a weak swimmer with an overprotective father and an urge to explore the world of the land dwellers, it's maybe not so cool. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third unfortunately found himself falling into that very niche category, and as such, was forced to spend most of his life in his room, heavily guarded at all times. He supposed it wasn't all bad, seeing as one of his main body guards, Astrid Hofferson, was his best mermaid friend. The title of his best friend of all time, however, belonged to Toothless. Toothless was a dolphin he'd found tangled in a fish net, wounded and missing his tail fin. Hiccup wasn't completely sure how he got into the awful situation, but any sane person would have said he was good as dead.

Hiccup was not a sane person. Hiccup was a fifteen year old merprince with a rebellious streak and a ridiculously compassionate heart. Now he was a twenty year old merprince with a rebellious streak and a ridiculously compassionate heart, so not much has changed, really. At the time, his first course of action had been to bring the poor creature to the surface so he could breathe. His next move was to cut him free of the net, and stem the blood flow from his mangled tail. Hiccup wasn't exactly the most muscular person (no, that title belonged to his father), and seeing as the dolphin (who he'd suddenly noticed had no teeth) was in no shape to swim, he'd put all his energy into getting him somewhere he could stay put and not drown or dry out. It was really pure dumb luck Hiccup managed to find a place for him to recover, and in the meantime he'd had to sneak food out for him, as well as try to construct an artificial tail to replace the one he'd lost. It took quite a long time, but Hiccup managed it. Unfortunately, his father found out about his son's journeys outside of castle walls, and immediately increased security around him. That was around the time he'd met Astrid.

The blonde girl was conventionally attractive, according to what Hiccup knew was supposed to be attractive in this day and age. Her hair was a beautiful pale gold, pulled into a braid that followed behind her when she swam. Despite her personality and dedication to her work as a soldier, she had beautiful shells and strings of pearls woven into her hair. Hiccup never asked about these, for fear of being punched in response. The rest of her outfit was extremely practical, however. Light armor covered her vital organs and a belt was fastened tightly around her waist, to which her spear and several knives were fastened. Astrid always lamented not being able to use an axe underwater. Hiccup planned on getting her an axe one day. Of course, hair and clothes aren't all there is to a mermaid. In fact, that's leaving out the most important detail! Upon first seeing her tail, Hiccup had to resist the urge to stare, because it was a rather striking sight with its bold white and brown stripes, spines jutting out. His resistance was futile, however, as she informed him that she came from a long line of zebra turkeyfish. He snorted at the name. She informed him she was poisonous. He shut his mouth.

Hiccup himself was not completely sure what kind of fish he was supposed to be. He certainly didn't boast the king mackerel tail of his father, after all. When asking what the hell he was supposed to be, he could never get a proper answer, usually getting some reference to his mother before whoever he asked changed the subject. It was quite a shame, and he was moderately embarrassed by his tail. Not that it wasn't absolutely gorgeous, but something about it always made him feel it would look so much better on someone else. Something about how frilly it was, and how flimsy his fins seemed. Something about the rich, iridescent green scales that seemed to shimmer with his every move. Something about the bold, white patch down his front that made him wonder if he was somehow part koi. It all just served to make him feel even more frail than he already was, his slim frame doing absolutely nothing to help. Every time he swam anywhere near his father, it just served to remind him that he was basically an accessory. A frilly, frail, exotic accessory covered in jewelry made of seaweed, seashells, and precious gemstones salvaged from sunken ships and the only land dweller they could trust- Trader Johann.

"Hiccup, you've sighed about ten times in the past few minutes." Astrid stated, finally catching his attention. He looked up at her from his upside down position on his bed and sighed once more, much louder than necessary. Astrid rolled her eyes. "What is it _this_ time?"

"Why do I have to wear this?" He gestured halfheartedly at his accessories; a circlet, two necklaces, a belt, several bracelets. They were all made of the most beautiful seaweed, shells, and gemstones he'd laid eyes on. He wished he could give it away.

"You might be called into a diplomatic meeting without warning and not have time to put everything on." She provided simply, returning to the act of both shortening and sharpening her nails.

"That's a stupid reason." Hiccup grumbled, still lying on his back on his bed. Astrid was sitting at his work desk, where he crafted random little inventions that didn't really do much but look cool. He could have made more useful things if he wanted to, but he hadn't been feeling the motivation lately. "Can I go see Toothless?" Seeing as dolphins are mammals and can't stay underwater at all times, Hiccup unfortunately had to ask to leave the castle and see him. Oftentimes he just snuck out. He couldn't sneak past Astrid.

"No." Hiccup groaned. "Your dad is probably going to stop by later today. You know we have royalty from the Berserk Kingdom visiting soon." She was right. He did know that. He just didn't care, and would much rather see his best friend.

"All that's going to happen is him trying to marry me off to King Oswald's daughter." Hiccup couldn't remember her name, though he knew his father must have told him at some point. "That's all he ever tries to do, marry me off to people's daughters. And I never want to. I'm not attracted to-"

"Not attracted to any merman, woman, or person, I know." Astrid shook her head.

"... In context, I think I generally start with mermaid." Hiccup muttered his correction, and Astrid promptly ignored him.

"I wonder if the princess is cute?" Astrid said lightly, testing her now sharp nails on a random block of wood Hiccup couldn't remember the reason for bringing to his room. It looked kind of old and gross, and if wood could cry, Hiccup was sure it would be under the force of Astrid's nails.

"Her biceps are probably bigger than my head." Hiccup was no stranger to the fact that his father tended to try and marry him off to much larger women. Probably because he hoped his grandchildren would be better than his son. What a pleasant thought.

"You know, Hiccup, I don't think that's possible." Hiccup turned his head slightly towards the new voice at the entrance of his room.

"Oh, hey Fishlegs." Astrid greeted. The large blond merman took a seat on the ledge of the wide window that looked out upon the castle's reef garden. Hiccup bitterly thought about the fact that his friends had highly poisonous and awesome origins (zebra turkeyfish? Pufferfish? Unfair) as he waved at his friend.

Fishlegs had quite an unfortunate name. His parents had clearly thought it was cute, but it had unfortunately wound up being the source of much teasing over the years in addition to his plump frame and love of knowledge. That was actually how Hiccup had met the boy. Back when they were much, much younger, one of the first times Hiccup snuck out of the castle by himself, Fishlegs had swam away from the play area most merkids the age of eight spent time in due to bullying. He'd nearly crashed into Hiccup, who hadn't been looking where he was going, and the two of them went on an entertaining misadventure while swimming away from the castle guards. They really just sort of clicked, and Stoick had been unable to deny his son playtime with his new friend, so Fishlegs was allowed to visit Hiccup in the castle whenever he pleased. Unless Hiccup was supposed to be sleeping, or having lessons, or preparing for some diplomatic thing, or- well, he was allowed to see him about half the times he tried, at least.

"What's Hiccup complaining about this time?" Fishlegs asked.

"Hey!" It's not like that's what he spent _all_ his time doing!

"He thinks he's too pretty, and he never wants to get married." Astrid supplied, and Hiccup stuck his tongue out at her (though he had to admit it was a kind of stupid thing to complain about). Fishlegs chuckled.

"Well, as fun as that sounds…" The pufferfish began to undo one of the many small bags he had on the belt around his hips, and Hiccup rolled over on the bed, propping himself up on his elbows and leaning forwards.

"Did you find a new species?" Hiccup asked, some of his boredom leaving him. Fishlegs was a botanist, and was always eager to show off his findings.

"Well, maybe not new, but it might be some kind of mutation of the usual algae!"

Fishlegs managed to get the plant life out of his bag, and he swam over to Hiccup's bed, knowing Astrid wasn't particularly interested in his job. Hiccup vaguely wondered why he couldn't have gone over to Fishlegs. Had his friend come over himself because of his own weak swimming? He wasn't _that_ useless… Hiccup shook his head, focusing on what Fishlegs was saying. That probably wasn't the reason, but he still felt a bit irritated. Something about proteins, weird pigmentation… Though he was nodding along and following what Fishlegs was telling him, part of him hated the fact that this was literally the most interesting part of his day. That part of him was, well, most of him. After thoroughly discussing the algae, Fishlegs tucked it back into his bag, adjusting his stone necklace. It was at that moment that Stoick appeared in the entrance, looking huge. Hiccup self consciously sat up in his bed, trying not to look as lethargic as he had been acting all day.

"Hey, dad. What's up?" Hiccup greeted. His father glanced around at his two friends before nodding.

"Just wanted to check up on you- make sure you're safe." Stoick said, and Hiccup resisted the urge to groan.

"No worries here. Your favorite son hasn't left his bed in hours, because there's literally nothing to do in here and Astrid won't let me go see Toothless."

"You need to stay here just in case King Oswald arrives today." Astrid shot out.

"Astrid is right, you know. I already received word that he had to take a detour due to land dwelling fishermen, so there's no telling when he'll arrive." His face held a not so subtle scowl upon mentioning the land dwellers.

"... Well, I hope they're safe." Hiccup stated quietly, lying down on his bed once more.

"Aye, you and I both." Stoick's demeanor had taken a nosedive in the negative end of the emotion pool, and he cleared his throat. "There's nothing we can do for them now save for pray. Take care of Hiccup, Astrid." Normally there would have been a teasing quip about how the two of them should 'admit their feelings' already, but it seemed he wasn't in the mood as he made to leave.

"Oh! King Stoick, have you seen Elder Gothi? I've been looking for her all day." Fishlegs swam over to the king, bowing his head respectfully.

"Ah, yes, I believe she was…"

Their voices faded as they left the room, Fishlegs waving goodbye at the last moment. Hiccup sighed, rolling onto his side on the bed. He buried his face in the pillow, somewhat wishing he had free control of whether or not his gills were functioning. That way he could suffocate himself to escape his endless boredom. Astrid said nothing as she swam to sit in his window, looking out onto the beautiful kingdom. When he told her he was going to sleep, she commented on the time (it wasn't even midday) but he ignored her. There was nothing to do in his room but tinker, talk, or sleep, and when he wasn't in the mood to do the first two, it was time to sleep. When he woke up hours later, Astrid was gone and he had a different guard he couldn't remember the name of stationed outside his room. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, he shot up from his bed, taking off his needless accessories and dumping them unceremoniously on the ground before swimming to the window. It was getting late, Toothless was probably asleep, he was bored, and nobody could stop him from going to his favorite place in the world, regardless of whether or not he was alone.

* * *

Above the water, in a nearby trading town, at the beginning of the day, a certain Irishman was just waking up from a well earned night's sleep. As he stretched, red hair falling over his shoulders, he heard the sound of a bird chirping. This bird was a very specific bird, as he was a lovebird named Méaróg, face a lovely peachy colour and body a nice yellow. The yellow bird flew down from his perch and landed on the head of red hair rising from the bed, and Aran smiled. He moved his hand up so Méaróg could perch on his finger before bringing him to eye level. The bird made a content noise as he received an affectionate scratch under the chin, and Aran placed him on his shoulder, where he hid in his hair. It really was a pleasant morning, until…

"Ailbe!" His mother called, and he cringed. "Are you still sleeping? I need help with breakfast!"

"Coming, mum!" He called out before taking his sweet time getting ready for the day.

It wasn't that he didn't love his mother, oh no, he was quite sure she was one of his favorite people in the world. It was simply that he hated his body, and the name he'd been given at birth. Staring at his shirtless form in the mirror did nothing to help, and he begrudgingly brushed his hair before pulling a dress he hated on. He then automatically reached for the thick, furry jacket he always wore to hide the fact that he'd definitely been working out lately. One day, he told himself. One day he would stop wearing that, and he'd show off his awesome manly muscles. That day was not today, unfortunately, and Aran put the effort into seeming feminine so his mother wouldn't suspect anything. It was just an act, after all.

" _There_ you are!" Orlaith exclaimed as he entered the kitchen. "Honestly, you young girls take so long getting ready, I have to wonder what you do with all your time." Aran forced a smile onto his face. It was just an act, just play along.

"Well, I just woke up, so I feel I should be excused." He yawned, as if to prove his point.

Orlaith began setting the table, and Aran suspected he'd taken so long getting ready she didn't need his help anymore. He went out to get his father, who had been taking care of the chickens. Canice smiled at Aran before following him inside. The family sat together at the table, Aran going out at the last moment to fill a pitcher of water. He began eating his breakfast after his mother lead the prayer.

"So, what are your plans for today?" Orlaith asked him, and he shrugged.

"I'm probably gonna do odd jobs around town until I run into Finn. Then we'll hang out until whenever." Aran took a swig of water.

"Ah, well I hope you have fun with him." His mother smiled, a 'knowing' look in her eye. "That jacket is his, isn't it?"

"Yeah." He responded before redirecting the subject. "I'm probably going to talk to him about what girls he thinks are cute, try and see if I can get him and Betha together. You know, the usual." Aran said casually, hoping this deflection would get his mother off his case about dating his best friend, who he definitely did not want to date.

"Well, I think I'd be trying to work up the courage to tell him something important?" It clearly did not.

"Oh yeah, I'll tell him about that baby chick that hatched yesterday. And to think we were going to scramble him! I'm sure Méaróg is glad we didn't." Aran suddenly felt guilty about the eggs in his mouth. That didn't stop him from eating them, of course. They were some damn good eggs.

"I think Trader Johann got into town today. He may need help unloading his ship." Canice changed the subject- something Aran was grateful for.

"I'll check it out, maybe I can get a new book for free. It'll be nice to see Ilanah again, anyways."

"Well, I'm sure she'd be happy to see you, too. You girls-" Just smile, Aran told himself, it's all part of the act. "-used to be inseparable! It's a shame she's away so often nowadays." Canice said cheerfully.

"Yeah. Real shame." He stood from his seat, putting his plate in the sink. "I'm heading out, now. By mum, dad!"

"Be safe, Ailbe!"

Aran cringed, muttering to himself about how that wasn't his name. Not that they knew that. He hadn't exactly told them that their precious daughter actually wanted to be their son. In fact, the only person who knew _that_ bit of information was his best friend of all time, Finn. Aran wasn't completely sure what he would do without Finn. Probably something incredibly reckless, like get completely wasted and try to cut his breasts off and die of blood loss or something. He shuddered at the thought, shaking his head and putting his attention on helping out around town. Everyone always had some sort of odd job or errand they couldn't get around to, and over the years, Aran had made himself the errand boy. They would repay him in tiny ways, like giving him a free bit of bread, or offering to help out on his parents' farm. He supposed it wasn't a job he needed, as Finn had told him on multiple occasions that he could probably make a living by playing his flute, but he never really wanted money for his cheerful tunes. Finn had also told him he could be a professional artist for the king, but Aran definitely didn't want to go down that path. There really… wasn't a path he wanted to go down.

Yes, Aran felt rather aimless in life. He wanted to get married and have kids, but he didn't want to be viewed as a mother, and it really didn't help that the range of people he found attractive was rather wide. Sure, he had his particular preferences, but he could find just about anybody attractive. He only proved his point when he had to tear his eyes away from the baker's daughter, and immediately averted his gaze when his brown eyes fell upon the apothecary's behind. He sort of wished he actually was attracted to Finn, as the taller male was certainly his type physically. But, he couldn't see the blond man as anything more than a brother, and couldn't imagine dating him.

Aran broke away from his thoughts as he spotted the old woman who looked after the orchard with her family. She was struggling with her bag, and Aran immediately offered his help, escorting her to the trading market. The woman thanked him profusely and gave him one of her apples, which he bit into as he made his way towards where Trader Johann likely had his ship docked. He noted that the apple was quite sweet, and relished every bite of it before tossing it in the grass when he thought nobody was paying particular attention to him. He was wrong about that.

"Ailbe!" A familiar voice called out to him, and he cringed. Just pretend you're happy to hear that, he told himself. "The least you could do is throw it in someone's compost."

"Sorry, Ilanah." He responded sheepishly as he bent down to pick up the apple core. "I didn't think you were watching."

"Obviously." The dark skinned woman rolled her vibrant blue eyes before her lips quirked up into a smile. "It's been ages! How have you been?" Aran shrugged as they began walking in a direction.

"Oh, same old, same old. Wake up, get ready for the day, do odd jobs, hang out with Finn, go to bed." It was really quite a boring routine.

"I kind of miss hanging out with you two." She responded before dropping her voice and changing the subject. "Do you remember when I told you about Badr's old boyfriend?" Aran wracked his brain. Badr was Ilanah's adoptive father, and if he remembered correctly, Ilanah had only mentioned his old boyfriend one time.

"Er, yes?" He answered, voice low to make sure nobody overheard the somewhat taboo conversation material.

"He's the reason I was gone for so long! Badr told Johann and I where he lived, and we got to visit him! He really lives quite far away, you know."

The direction they walked in as they caught up seemed to be in the direction of Ilanah's biological father's boat. Trader Johann and her mother, Judit, had been together for quite a short time before falling out. Ilanah hadn't been close to Johann until more recently because of this. It was only three years ago that Judit let her daughter begin traveling with her real father. The animosity Judit held towards her former lover was understandable, but Aran truly thought it was a shame that Ilanah never got to know her father. He supposed the older woman was probably glad her daughter looked nothing like her father with her thick, curly, black hair and smooth, dark skin. Even her eyes, despite sharing a blue hue, were completely different.

Ilanah truly was different from most of the people around town, with their paler skin and lighter hair. She also had quite a different nose, and a way of carrying herself that made her seem even more foreign than she truly was. Aran himself was more like the usual crowd, with freckles all over his pale skin, red hair covering his head and bangs brushing his thick eyebrows. His brown eyes were unremarkable as it was, without being compared to Ilanah's striking blue ones, though that was more a matter of Aran having really boring eyes than it was Ilanah's being particularly foreign. She also had a rather nice beauty mark under her left eye.

Aran had been staring at it before remembering his manners and responding to Ilanah's most recent statement. The two of them reached Johann's boat, and began helping him unload. He would be staying in town for a week (maybe more) before setting out again, and he planned on setting up a stall in the market. Both Aran and Ilanah were more than happy to help, and by the end of it, Aran managed to secure a free book. It was about vikings and dragons, or some other such nonsense. He hadn't paid much attention to the book's contents after deciding it seemed interesting. After spending those hours with Ilanah and Johann, he decided to set off in search of Finn. Luckily, Finn wasn't particularly hard to find.

"Finn!" Aran called out to the tall blond man before causing him to crash to the ground with the sheer force of his hug.

"Hello, Aran." Finn sounded winded, and Aran laughed as he helped him up. A grin plastered itself on Aran's freckled face, in part due to being called by his preferred name, and in part because he was happy to see his best friend. "You should really go easy on me. I don't have your raw, manly strength." Aran giggled, and Finn laughed as well.

"Ah, well, you know me." He flexed one of his arms despite it being covered by Finn's old jacket, thus ruining the effect. "I just don't know my own strength."

"That's a complete lie." Finn pointed out, and Aran batted his long eyelashes as innocently as he could.

"Well, that's clearly besides the point." Aran waved him off, and Finn rolled his eyes.

The two of them began walking towards the nearby woods, so they could talk without spilling the secret that Aran was a guy, and so he could change into some more comfortable clothes. As soon as they'd passed the trees, Aran took his jacket off, throwing it at Finn's head. The taller male said nothing about that and continued the conversation as if nothing had happened, causing Aran to snort with laughter because he felt like he was speaking with a talking jacket. Finn took the garment from his face, not hiding his amusement in the slightest. When they reached their destination, Aran rushed ahead, ducking down behind a rock as per usual. Finn hung his jacket on the branch of a long dead tree before leaning against the bark and waiting for his friend to come into view again.

"Handsome." The blond commented as Aran did just that.

"Oh, stop it, you." Aran put a hand on his cheek and waved him off as he pretended to be flattered. He was used to that sort of comment, however, considering the fact that Finn said something like that every time he changed into his preferred clothes.

The outfit itself really wasn't anything special. His pants were nothing outstanding, and the shirt was just a bit big on him, but it was much better than the dresses and skirts he usually had to wear. He'd even managed to secure a piece of clothing that made his chest look rather flat, so the outfit satisfied him greatly. His hair was tied up as well, and it was now that Méaróg decided to wake up from the nap Aran hadn't even noticed he was taking. Upon noticing where he was, he trilled with glee, flying about and doing loops in the air. Finn laughed as Aran pulled out his flute, playing random tunes that his bird was more than happy to try and sing with.

After a decent amount of that, Méaróg made to take a drink of the water in the lake in the cove, but Aran quickly pulled him away from the edge of the water. The lovebird received a scolding, as the water in the lake was saltwater for some reason Aran couldn't begin to explain. Méaróg almost see me to grumble, sulking as he tried to bury himself in the dirt. Finn rolled his eyes as he pulled out his canteen, popping the cap off and filling it with water before placing it on the ground. The yellow bird decided to get over his grumpiness, ruffling his feathers in an attempt to cleanse himself of dirt before eagerly drinking the water. As he did that, Aran poured some birdseed into his hand. Finished with the water, Méaróg happily hopped over to his owner's hand, enjoying the food. Finn dug around in Aran's bag, finding exactly what he had been looking for- a leaf of lettuce. He raised a blond brow at his friend, and Aran shrugged, stating that the farmer had skimped out on paying him last week so he put matters into his own hands. So he stole a single leaf of lettuce. Honestly, the old man probably hadn't even noticed it was missing.

When Méaróg finished the birdseed, Aran wiped their hand free of the shells with the use of Finn's shirtsleeve. The blond man gave him an unamused stare, and Aran kept an innocent smile on his face. With his hand now clean, stretched, and Finn gestured for him to sit on the ground in front of him. Aran did so without question, sitting between his friend's legs as pale hands undid his ponytail. Méaróg settled down in his owner's freckled hands and started lazily eating the stolen leaf of lettuce. The poor bird's energy was gone after having eaten such a meal.

"So, anything bothering you today?" Finn asked as he ran his long fingers through his friend's red hair, gently working on detangling it.

"... Why are you asking?" His response was hesitant and he focused his attention on giving Méaróg affectionate scratches. The bird was practically in heaven.

"Well…" Finn thought for a moment, getting slightly lost in the act of running his fingers through Aran's hair before remembering what he was doing and separating the locks into three sections. "You were just happier to see me than usual, I guess." Aran laughed.

"Only _you_ would be able to see that as a bad thing." He joked, but wasn't met with an amused chuckle. "I guess it's just more of the usual. Trader Johann came into town so I got to see Ilanah for the first time in a while, but…" Aran trailed off, not really needing to elaborate. Finn hummed, weaving his friend's hair into a braid. "Plus, my parents…"

"Well, regardless of what anyone says, you're probably the strongest man I know." Finn assured him, and Aran let a smile tug at the corners of his lips.

"I just wish I could figure out how to tell everyone." He winced. "Too tight."

"Sorry." Finn focused on his job a bit more. "Maybe you can start small? Ilanah is one of the most open minded people I know, what with Badr and everything." Aran thought about it.

"Yeah, she is, but I don't know." He didn't elaborate. "And I don't want my parents to be upset that they lost their precious little girl." Finn took the string Aran had used to tie his hair up earlier and tied it to the end of the braid in a bow.

"But they'd be gaining a precious little _boy_ in the process! What is there to be upset about?" Aran giggled slightly.

"Hmm, I'll tell them one day." Hopefully.

"I'll be with you if you're too scared to do it by yourself."

"Hey!" Aran's cheeks went pink. "I'm not a baby." Finn chuckled, leaning back on his hands as Aran spun around to glare at him.

"I didn't say you were!" He insisted. "Everyone gets scared sometimes. I get scared when I think of my dad finding out I like boys as well as girls."

"And when you see a spider." Aran reminded with a wicked grin, and it was Finn's turn to glare.

"They could crawl into your mouth while you're sleeping and lay eggs in your stomach." He said bluntly, shivering. Aran snickered.

"Spiders don't even do that."

The redhead carefully tucked his bird between his chest and tight undergarment before standing from his spot and stretching as he walked over to his bag, which had been discarded sometime during the feeding of Méaróg. After glancing around a bit, he found his discarded tin whistle lying in the grass and placed it back in the pouch. He pulled out his sketchbook, pencil, and eraser before dropping the bag back onto the ground perhaps a bit too close to the water (though he knew it wouldn't fall). Finn seemed to have decided he needn't respond to Aran's last comment, hazel eyes appraising the sun's position in the sky. It wasn't _too_ late, and Aran didn't need to be home until dark, but it was understandable when Finn informed him that he should probably head back. The blond man needed to be home earlier than Aran to help finish up all the farmwork back at his family ranch, after all. Aran saw him out of the cove and gave him a light hug, being mindful of the sleeping bird in his shirt.

He then found a soft spot in the grass and began to draw a silly, fantastical doodle of Finn riding on the back of a giant spider, with a cape made of silk. As his mind wandered, he continued to draw more and more ridiculous things, not particularly in the mood for anything serious. Somehow, his train of thought got so convoluted that he was drawing Finn married to a regular sized spider, and trying to care for strangely huge spider children that were inexplicably trying to eat birds as they breathed fire. He blinked, putting a hand on his head and trying to make sense of that before giving up entirely and having mercy on doodle-Finn, next drawing him embracing his friend (and crush), Betha. Of course, he couldn't resist adding a spider sneaking down from its web in the corner, but the drawings of the humans were completely unaware of the fact. That lead to a doodle of Betha killing the spider with her bare hands as Finn cowered behind her.

Now that his imagination was spent and his hand was cramped, Aran found himself yawning. It wasn't quite dark yet, and the sun wasn't setting, so he decided to put the sketchbook and drawing materials away, instead bringing out the book he'd gotten from Trader Johann earlier that day. It seemed to be about a scrawny young boy (aged ten) and his only friend (equally scrawny and somehow even more pathetic) trying to grow up in a society where brute strength and dim wits meant everything. There were also dragons. Those were important too. Those were kind of the whole plot, seeing as the book started with the young vikings sneaking into a large cave in search of a dragon to train. Aran managed to get so invested that he didn't even notice himself starting to fall asleep, especially not when his dreams were about a different life in a similarly dragon-populated universe where he was viewed as male and really quite well liked for who he was.

* * *

 _ **Word Count: 5,848**_

 **This is a very long chapter. This chapter is 20 pages long in google docs (double spaced, admittedly). This chapter took me two weeks to write because I kept trying to perfect it. Future Chapters Will Not Be This Long.**

 **The book Aran reads is a nod to the HTTYD book series (the first person described is obviously Hiccup, the second is Fishlegs, whose book counterpart is VERY different from his movie counterpart), the dream Aran has is inspired by my fanfic (How to Deal With Vikings), and my OCs were first featured in HTDWV. In fact, this fanfic itself is inspired by chapter 16 (and 17) of HTDWV when Aran draws the HTTYD crew as merfolk. HTDWV is just HTTYD + my OC(s) so some things are different (like Stoick doesn't die fuck that).**

 **Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope you enjoyed and will stick around for future chapters! I'm not completely sure what my update schedule will be like because I have finals next week and then it's summer vacation and I tend to get VERY lazy over summer vacation. Plus, I'm going to be a senior in high school next year? So I have to start thinking about stuff like college and idk it's just. It's a time. I'm doing very badly in school (I have an essay and a project due in two different classes on Wednesday and I haven't even started...) so honestly I don't even know... I'm just a mess but anyways I love writing and please talk to me about the things I write it helps fight my depression lol**

 **See you next time! Hopefully!**


	2. i'm so sorry honestly

**Hello, this is your author speaking, I'd like to apologize for posting one chapter and never continuing... I had like, big plans, but a lot of stuff has happened since then... I haven't been writing much at all, but I'm going to try to start again soon (original stuff though, sorry) and like, I'm in marching band and school is going to be starting and I have to apply to college and stuff... My depression also kinda spiked about 40 minutes ago (that's the main reason I'm writing this note honestly, I just feel like a horrible person) and I dunno if that's gonna stay like that or not... I really wish I could have the heart to continue these fics, but another thing about it is just... Like, I love How to Train Your Dragon. I never got to read all the books because my kindle hates me, but I own both of the movies and have watched the TV series multiple times over. So I love HTTYD, but I can't get invested in it anymore, because my girlfriend and I broke up and I just feel kind of awful about dating her in the first place now that I know I'm aromantic? I didn't realize it until after we broke up, and I just feel so bad for hurting her and stuff, she didn't deserve that and she was one of my best friends and now it just hurts to think of her, and I can't think about HTTYD without thinking about her because she was one of like, two people who read my HTTYD stuff... Anyways, that was kinda maybe tmi? But I wanted to let you guys know I guess...**

 **If that was too much reading for you, here's the short version: I can't bring myself to write for HTTYD anymore because of emotional ties I have to it.**

 **One day I might return to these fics? But I honestly don't know. Maybe when the next season of RTTE comes out I'll binge it like I did the previous season (which is what got me into writing How to Deal With Vikings in the first place) and make some new memories with the series. Maybe I won't. It all depends, I guess. That's all I really wanted to say really. But I'll respond to the one guest review I got.**

MMM: ha this is cute and funny keep writing?

Response: Hello, what a familiar guest, welcome back MMM. I wish I could, honestly. Thank you for enjoying it, though. I've appreciated all of your reviews.


End file.
